Erling Haaland has experienced another eventful campaign at Manchester City after a special 2022/23 season.
The Norway international has impressively scored 19 goals in just 21 appearances across all competitions.
However, there was a brief period where the Manchester City No.9 did not score for three games – which led to a feisty exchange with a Norwegian media outlet.
The Leeds-born striker has since bounced back.
Now – however – a statistic has emerged which many will surely use as a stick to beat Erling Haaland with at Manchester City…
Erling Haaland sits atop list of missed chances
Well, no player in Europe’s top five leagues has missed as many clear-cut goalscoring chances as the Norwegian this season, according to WhoScored.
Haaland has squandered 15 major opportunities in front of goal – however, this statistic requires context.
Manchester City fans should not worry
Usually, some of the best forwards around find themselves near the top of this list, purely because they are the ones who get into these goalscoring areas so often.
For example – as seen on the Premier League’s official website – Ollie Watkins sits second on the list with 13 missed chances, a player who is enjoying a tremendous campaign with Aston Villa.
Mohamed Salah is seventh with six clear-cut chances missed, level with another superb forward in Jarrod Bowen.
Therefore, Haaland should not be viewed in a negative light because of this statistic.
If anything, it is a positive for him to be top of the list, and also have 19 goals in all competitions.
Had the Manchester City talisman been a bit more ruthless and finished off just 11 of these 15 missed chances, he would already be on 30 goals for the season before Christmas, which is ridiculous.
Haaland should not be mocked for falling below his own absurd standards – if anything, such effective movement in the final third, which he was keen to show Gary Lineker at the Ballon d’Or ceremony, should be praised, rather than ridiculed.
